Dance is superior to repetitive physical exercise for brain plasticity (2018)

Post by vlasev » Mon, Jul 27, 2020, 11:18 PM UTC

networkimprov wrote: post #52

I've been a dancer for 30 years, of many forms. The best way I can describe dancing to non-practitioners is that it's like playing a silent, wearable musical instrument that demands attention from your entire body. It is not like playing a sport, except perhaps if you do it competitively :-)

Post by madhadron » Sat, Aug 01, 2020, 9:38 PM UTC

gnufx wrote: post #220

madhadron wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The English country dance tradition in the USA evolved into contradance (corruption of "country dance"). It diverged in the 18th century when English country dances were almost entirely longways dances, so there are only a few squares formations left, almost vestigial. Then in English the whole explosion when the quadrille arrived from France and began hybridizing with English country dance happened, and then the wal…

Contra is now pretty popular amongst folkies in the UK (well, England, anyway). Ceilidh (around the UK) is the wander-in-and-give-it-a-go thing, less taxing and more energetic than contra, and should be very welcoming and age-blind. (Less chance of throwing a whole set if you get it wrong, and typically less intricate.) I guess with most genres you'd feel at home joining in somewhere else. The big long festival of fo…